I've been wanting to do my own spin on the classic sword/wand through ring effect for a long time, but I really wanted to bring something new to the table. I know that numerous creators has made versions of this trick, Tenyo has their Crystal Cleaver, Magic Wagon has their "Ultimate sword through ring" (and probably some others that I can't remember right now), and most recently Retro Rocketeers created the Bifrost Blade, which is perhaps one of the cleanest versions out there.

To come up with something new is quite difficult, but I think I have done just that. The Legend of Runegild is a story about the powerful viking ring called Runegild (which is just a nice sounding name that I came up with, and not something found in old norse mythology) and the viking attack on Lindisfarne, which was a real historical event that is said to be the beginning of the viking age.

In my version of the trick, and this is what I think is quite novel, the props are assembled in front of the spectators while the story unfolds, and there are no funny moves or anything suspicious to be seen (I think).

Here's is a picture of all the parts that are used in the performance:

And here's a couple of closeups:

Here's the assembled tower with the sword leaning against it:

I have designed the sword myself, as a replica of a real Norwegian viking sword using the pictures found here: https://www.khm.uio.no/samlinger/gjensta......eid.html

The sword was first designed and then 3D-printed, which I used to create a mold for casting it in metal.

I have also created a video performance of my trick, I hope you will enjoy it:



Direct video link: https://youtu.be/Rgo8q_Nllow

That is extremely neat. Must have taken a lot of work. To my eye it looks better than Crystal Cleaver with its somewhat suspicious base. But how inspectable is your version?

That is excellent. Good work on the fabrication of the props (all 3D printed?). I had Lindisfarne on my mind, because this morning at church we were just discussing St. Aidan of Lindisfarne , the Irish monk who founded the monastery on the island of Lindisfarne in 634 A.D. It's his feast day celebrated on the calendar of the Eastern Orthodox Church.)

Yes, it really took an extreme amount of work, to be honest. I had so many prototypes and different concepts to try until I finally found a method that worked out the way I wanted, and one of my key points was to not have a base of any kind. And to be clear, there is also nothing under the closeup mat. It will work on any surface.

It is more or less all 3D printed, yes. There are some other parts as well, but there are no electronics or batteries. The ring is purchased from Aliexpress, and it is a stainless steel ring with golden plating and engraved runes.

As for inspectability, one item/part would need to be switched for it to be inspectable. With some clever handling, that is a possibility, I think.

My story is of course complete fiction, but since the attack on Lindisfarne is considered the beginning of the Viking age, I chose to base it on that.

Very Nice. Well Done.

Tom

Looks nice, and I like the story you've attached.

What 3D design software do you use?

Thanks for the nice comments!

@smithart: I use Autodesk Fusion for my 3D CAD work, but this could of course have been done in more or less any CAD package. It's just that Fusion is what I have been using for a few years, and I know it well.

Well I don't know how you've done it, but the one refinement I would suggest, if it's possible, is to try to reduce the noise as the sword goes down through the slots

It isn't easy to do much about that noise, I think. I could move the sword down slowly, but then there would be a different noise right after starting to move the sword, which might be more revealing, I'm not sure. I feel that a swift movement fits nicely with the story (I mean a sword isn't swung around slowly in combat), and some noise should be expected as it demolishes everything on it's way down.

The noise that the sword makes as it moves downward seems justified. Didn't detract from the effect at all for me.

Yes, fair enough

Wow, the build is awesome and the performance very impressive!
I am not familiar with this effect (more into cards, just wandering around) so I don't know how it compares with the other versions you mentioned but, unless they also have a medieval tower, yours is probably much cooler from the start

About the noise, maybe because I don't know how the trick works internally, I actually found it quite appropriate.
If I hadn't read your post first (= had seen only the performance), I would have expected the sword to bounce over the ring's cage, so the noise sounded like the sword actually broke the ring's cage and maybe even more since it was at the very bottom of the tower.
Then when you raise the tower and the sword is seen through the ring, which is still inside its cage which is not broken, honestly I wasn't thinking about the noise anymore.

Really great, thank you for sharing

@MrVincent, thanks for the nice comment! There are actually many versions of this kind of trick, as I mentioned in the first post, but I think mine might be just about the only one where the ring box actually sits directly on the table (or mat). All the others (that I am aware of) have some kind of base that the ring box is placed onto, which the audience could then suspect has something to do with the trick. There is only one version I know of that has a very flat base (so less suspicious), and that is "Bifrost Blade" by Retro Rocketeers. I really like his version too (and it was the one that (re)inspired me to start working on mine), and the moves he does are not unnatural, but there is still that base below the ring box.

Some of the other versions are directly examinable though, while mine will require a switch. For "Bifrost Blade", all items are *individually* examinable, which to me is nearly equivalent to not examinable.

Thank you for the details and congrats on the innovation!
Just had a look to videos of the versions you mentioned and I see what you mean about the base, some of them feel a bit bulky (especially after seeing your version first).

With regards to examination, it seems to me that because your version makes it easier for the audience to enter the story (they witness the tower assembly as you describe it, and the tower looks like an actual medieval tower) they may not even ask to examinate the props.

It's extremely clever, and I am very tempted to try to reverse-engineer my own version (I was already working, sporadically, on a kind of parlour version of Crystal Cleaver). I assume that yours is very slightly angle-sensitive once the top of the tower goes on, although in practice that would not be a big problem. I do think that one of the strengths of the original Crystal Cleaver is that, while spectators may rightly suspect the base, they are very unlikely to discover the actual secret, even with close inspection.

@jolyonjenkins: Yes, in theory there is a slight angle sensitivity, but the dimensions are such that in practice, it is extremely unlikely to ever be a problem. Spectators would have to have a quite high vantage point, or be about as close to the prop as the performer (with their eyes at the same height), which is a situation you would always want to avoid. That is also because while it is pretty quiet, it isn't completely silent, so to have spectators that close is always a bad idea. In a parlour setting, I can't see any real issues.

Just seeing this now. As usual amazing job and love the idea of building the prop in front of the spectators. Fooled me and I own many of the versions you mentioned

John

Thanks, John! I'm very happy to have fooled you (not with the general principle of course, but with the method used).